Belgium

Capital of Belgium but also of chocolate, beer, cafes, art nouveau architecture, surrealism and comics.

If you set out to design a fairy-tale medieval town, it would be hard to improve on central Bruges (Brugge in Dutch). Picturesque cobbled lanes and dreamy canals link photogenic market squares lined with soaring towers, historic churches and old whitewashed almshouses. And there’s plenty of it.

Asking citizens of Ghent what they think of their city is a pointless exercise: you’ll find only unanimous love. And with good reason.